Conversations with Androids
by Srijita
Summary: Phantasy Star 4. Chaz and Rika seem to like each other... a lot. Their blossoming romance is a headache for Rune, who promised Alys he'd look out for them both. He decides to discuss his concerns with Wren, but soon regrets opening his mouth.


**A/N**: Earlier this year I received some unexpected encouragement to complete a novel trilogy that has been in preparation for many years. Since then, all my (limited) writing time has been devoted to full-length original fiction. I shall probably not be returning to fan fiction for the foreseeable future, so am publishing excerpts from old projects that may never reach completion. Disjointed it may be - it is difficult for a compilation of excerpts to appear otherwise - but hopefully it will bring back memories for people who played the _Phantasy Star _games.

The following is an extract from a lengthy PSIV saga that included a prequel, background to the game, and a sequel. The scene was the subject of some amazing fanart by my friend Sarah, to whom this and all subsequent pieces are dedicated.

**Conversations with Androids**

_[This incident takes place shortly after the defeat of the first Dark Force on Kuran. The blizzard continues unabated and the party have returned to Dezolis to investigate. They are spending the night at Ryuon to recover.]_

"Wren, wait up!" called Rune to the towering android, who was striding swiftly in the direction of the _Landale_. "May I take a moment of your time?"

Wren stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Certainly, Rune," he replied, with his unfailing courtesy. "How may I be of help?"

Rune glanced over his shoulder to ensure that no one else was within earshot. "It's about Chaz and Rika. I don't know whether you've noticed, but there's a chemistry between those two."

"I had not noticed that. What is this chemistry? Is it an organic reaction of some kind?"

Rune slapped his forehead. "Guess I had that coming," he murmured. "You don't understand idiom, do you, Wren?"

"Idiom," repeated Wren. "A form or expression of usage peculiar to a language, especially one whose meaning is not given by those of its separate words. I was programmed to understand the Parmanian language in use at the time of my construction. But language evolves, does it not? You must forgive me if the colloquialisms of today are beyond my comprehension. I can learn –"

"Sure you can," interjected Rune, hastily, "but let's cover that later. Getting back to Chaz and Rika, I was referring to mutual attraction. I'm not sure the kids are even conscious of it yet, but at that age hormones kick in fast, and they soon will be. Which raises a number of questions, chiefly about Rika. I assume, Wren, since you collaborated with Seed, that you may have some answers."

"Rika is a product of a thousand years of improvement on the genetic profile of a prototype created before the 'Great Collapse' –"

"Yes, I know… the Nei prototype, produced by genetic engineering at the Biosystems laboratory."

To the extent that androids ever demonstrated emotion, Wren seemed astonished. "That was a covert operation. How did you find out about it?"

"It's an imperfect universe." Rune waved his hand dismissively; he was not about to be drawn into a conversation about Esper sources and telepathy balls. "I gather the purpose of the experiments was to determine whether combining human DNA with that of native animal species could generate a crossbreed better able to withstand environmental conditions on Motavia. Rika, I take it, is a product of this same line, but with multiple genetic modifications along the way."

"That is correct."

"But there were problems with the NM series, weren't there? Longevity being one of them. They demonstrated accelerated growth and development, but at the cost of a markedly reduced life expectancy. So let me ask you straight. What is Rika's lifespan likely to be?"

"By the time Seed constructed her genome, the genetic components involved in the human ageing process were well characterised, and the model was tailored accordingly. She was genetically programmed to attain physical maturity within one year of birth, and to undergo normal human ageing thereafter, ultimately achieving the typical Parmanian lifespan of between seventy and one-hundred years."

The Esper gave a sigh of relief. "All right, well, that takes care of one major headache. But here's another." He hesitated; this was where the conversation was liable to become awkward. "Rika's only a year old. Yet from the outside, apart from her ears, she has the appearance of a normal human girl in late adolescence, approaching adulthood. Now you mentioned physical maturity. Does that include puberty?"

Wren paused for a moment, an eternity of computer time, before answering: "Her biological age, in human terms, is eighteen years."

"All right, good, that puts her in the same age bracket as Chaz. Can we assume that she will also have gone through normal menarche?" His question was met with a blank stare, so he drew breath and continued. "Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but they need to know what they're getting into, and there's no one else to guide them. What I'm getting at is this, Wren. If their feelings for each other grow, and one thing leads to another, is Rika ready to go all the way with a man? Should they be allowed to do that, just over a year after she came into existence? Would it be _right_?" He grimaced awkwardly at Wren, who appeared unfazed. "What advice am I supposed to give them? Take it slowly? Wait a while? But for how long? And what about starting a family? Could Rika become a mother at her age?"

The android's continued reticence unnerved him. Rune had no wish to be explicit, but Wren appeared to have no more command of euphemism than of idiom. The Esper found himself in the unfamiliar position of being at a loss for words. He was embarrassed. "Let me put this bluntly. Could Rika, in her present state of physical maturity, have sexual relations - _mate_ - with a man? At what age will she be able to conceive children?"

At last comprehension dawned upon the android. "Rika was designed to breed with Parmanians and produce fertile offspring, with a hybrid of human and numan DNA. A female numan becomes fertile upon attaining physical maturity at one year of age... It is regretful that Seed's numan cell lines were lost with the destruction of the BioPlant. The original aim was to produce more specimens to enhance genetic diversity. As it is, Rika is one of a kind."

Rune nodded, satisfied. Psychological maturity, of course, was a very different matter, but not a subject on which Wren could be expected to provide any insight. Besides, Shorty was as much of a worry as Rika in that regard. He would have to be there for them, keep an eye on them, make it easy for them to come to him for support and counsel... Rune's mind drifted suddenly back to an evening in Aiedo almost fourteen years before. Galf had arrived home unexpectedly to find him necking with Alys. Perhaps they had been going in for some heavy petting as well. A long talk had followed. Still vivid in his memory were Alys's flushed face and his own discomfiture as he had stammered and made excuses. What was the phrase Galf had used? "I have to protect you from yourselves." And _they _had been in their twenties, a good few years older than Chaz and Rika.

That old cliché was part and parcel of providing pastoral care. The difficulty was compounded in his case because Chaz patently resented him. The young swordsman had minded Alys; she had been like a mother to him; but Rune remained to him an unwanted outsider, an authority figure who had no right to authority. Rune's good-natured teasing he continued to view as an affront to his dignity. The Esper smiled wryly. Somewhere in the spirit realm of Elsydeon, Alys was watching him grapple with the task she had left him, throwing back her pretty head, and having a good laugh at his expense. Apparently, the return of Dark Force to an Algo weakened by the loss of Parma was not enough of a challenge; now he had to deal with two naïve but hormonal teenagers, on whose account he had been obliged to discuss sex with an android. Great, just great. The previous generations of Lutz had had it easy compared to him.

He looked up to see Wren waiting patiently. "Thanks, Wren, that's very reassuring. Sorry to press you for details like that. At one level, it's no concern of mine, but with Alys and Seed gone, I stand _in loco parentis_ for both of them. And I don't want to see either of the kids get hurt. But now that you've cleared that up, I'll just step back and let nature take its course... well, up to a point, any way."

He turned on his heel and bid a hasty retreat back towards the inn, leaving Wren to ponder whether the pink tinge on his friend's cheeks was a normal Parmanian response to cold weather.


End file.
